Audio and other devices requiring a connection to an external device, such as headphones, employ connectors which receive a plug. When the plug is inserted into the connector, an electrical connection is formed between the inserted plug and a circuit within the device.
More particularly, such connectors include a connector housing which physically supports an inserted portion of the plug. The connector housing in turn, generally is connected to a circuit board disposed within the device, and possibly to other structures within the device or the device housing. Forces transmitted to a plug inserted into the connector are transferred first to the connector housing, and then to the circuit board to which the connector housing is attached, and possibly to other structures within the device.
The size, especially the thickness, of handheld electronic devices continues to shrink. However, accommodating connectors and plugs in handheld devices is a challenge within a thinner profile. Often times these connectors face a side of the device that has a very thin profile making integration of a connector, for example a stereo headset connector, increasingly difficult.